[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

One can't be too hard and fast in his employment of these sorts of averages, but I think the point you make here is that the time for the Maple Leafs to maximise the production of their core players is now, and that is NOT good news because of their shortage of high end players inside the next 2–3 year window.


True, but I would say that recent performance of the Flames at the draft should allay some of that concern. Burke's current position as "president of hockey operations" as opposed to "general manager" also removes him a step from direct construction of the Flames' talent pool. So far I have few complaints about his tenure in Calgary, and this is from someone who has never been fond of Brian Burke.


Van Riemsdyk is 25, Kadri will be 24, and Bernier is 26.

As I mentioned above, these are all players that are now just entering their prime playing years, but in a situation in which Toronto should ideally be competing for the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for them, the Leafs are not close, and they don't really look to be in the course of the next 3 or 4 years.

So in 3-4 years they'll be past their primes? Bernier is a goalie. What goalie is done at 28-29?